In many lighting applications, there is a single light or plurality of lights that needs to be controlled individually (one unit at a time) or in groups (several units “grouped” together) or all the lights simultaneously. Among the installations where there is such a requirement are residential track lighting containing a plurality of individual light heads attached to a powered metal track mounted in ceilings and or walls; ceiling lighting having a plurality of lights such as factory and office illumination; artwork lighting in which a single artwork needs to be illuminated; points of purchase or display of items in retail stores; and, theater lighting applications.
In recent years many different remotely actuated devices for controlling lights, specifically dimmers, have been offered in different versions and configurations. Every one of these devices needs to have a unique identity, or address, so it can be individually or collectively controlled. A drawback to these known lighting devices is that the addresses of the devices must be set manually using dual in-line package (DIP) switches, binary, hex rotary switches, or thumbwheel switches. While any these types of switches are widely used, they are usually expensive, physically big, cumbersome and difficult to set. While DIP switches offer the most economical solution for setting the address of the device, they need to be set in binary base, which requires the person setting the address to know binary math, or to use charts explaining how to set the switches for a certain address. In addition, a (n) number of switches will only allow to set any combination of up to (2)n different addresses (i.e. 8 switches will only allow the use of up to 256 devices). In order to change the address of a particular device or a group of devices, these switches must be reset in the proper configuration for the new address. When the lighting devices have been mounted on ceilings, high walls, fly roads or any other location many feet above the floor, this can present a problem. When these lighting devices are mounted in recessed locations or fixed spots, this difficulty is increased. The address switches may also be obstructed by other objects as well, such as the mounting bracket for the lighting device, further increasing the difficulty of changing the address of the device.
In addition, while there are many different stand alone dimmers to be used with plug-in lamps, for temporarily or permanently connected lighting devices, none offers a self contained unit, containing both the remotely actuated dimmer and the lighting device.
One known system for addressing light dimmers (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,175,201 and 6,369,524) relies on a DMX-512 protocol controller to output a plurality of channels in sequence. This is useful for an installation where many lights need to be adjusted, but it is too complicated a device when only a few single units need to be adjusted. There are any number of addressable control devices and a DMX protocol controller coordinates and sets the values of these devices. Generally, the DMX Controllers has 512 channels, and each channel has up to 255 discrete amplitude levels. The amplitude level of each channel is independent of the amplitude levels of the other channels. All 512 channels are continuously broadcast in series and a fixed time period T passes between each broadcast of the 512th channel. One or more of the control devices is put into the programmable mode. The DMX Controller is set so that all channels have a zero amplitude, except for the channel which corresponds to the desired address. When the signal is now sent from the DMX Controller, the electronic address in this programming mode will be set to the non-zero channel. Then, the control signal is ended and the control devices are switched back to the operating mode. In this manner the electronic address of each control device can be set and a group may even have the same electronic address.
Bryde (U.S. Pat. No. 6,300,727) remotely controls the state and power level of the electrical device. Mechanical type switches are used to set the address. Therefore, the address cannot be set remotely, which is one of the main points and objects of the herein invention.
Therefore, there is a need for a simple easy to use device and system for quickly and easily setting the parameters of an addressable lighting fixture or group of fixtures. Another need in the industry is for a switchless addressing mechanism, so that the lighting devices can be reprogrammed more easily and efficiently